From 2001 to Today: LINK Mobility Acquisition History

You might have heard our big news: we’re going global! But we wouldn’t have gotten to where we are today without everything we’ve done the past 20 years. Here, we share more about our acquisition history through the years, right up until this past month’s agreement to acquire Soprano Design.

Check out the news here and see our graphic at the bottom of this article for an overview of our acquisition history.

We’re proud of our acquisition history and growth. Take a look at all we’ve accomplished!

Early Years of LINK Mobility Acquisitions

2000: Jens Rugseth founded Ememess AS, a content warehouse with mobile services.

2001: Zapdance AS founded focused on services such as SMS quiz and SMS chat in the UK.

2003: Major deal with the Norwegian operator Chess. Decided to focus more on the Nordic market. More focus on entertainment services such as ringtones and logos.

2004: Zapdance AS and Ememess AS merger.

2004-2007: Focused on selling in-house content and in-house services through partners. Business in Norway was increasing and business outside Norway was decreasing.

Have you seen our interview with Jens Rugseth celebrating 20 years of LINK Mobility?

Becoming LINK Mobility

2007: Left the content business to become a B2C company. Acquired LINK Messaging AB (previously Telenor LINK AB) and changed the name to LINK Mobility.

2007-2010: LINK Mobility AS: More of a technical provider, helping customers enhance sales using mobile phones. LINK Mobility AB: Continued its business, but with a broader product portfolio.

2011: Expanded into payment services and SMS with the acquisitions of Aspiro Mobile Solution AS, Aspiro Mobile Solutions AB, and Aspiro Mobile Solutions SIA.

A group structure was created with LINK Mobility Group Holding ASA as the parent company owning all the shares in LINK Mobility AS, LINK Mobility AB and LINK Mobility SIA.

2014: Acquired InTouch from Eniro Norway AS in March, which served individual, business, and financial information.

The Group acquired PSWinCom AS in December, a supplier of mobile solutions for messaging and payment, which was later merged with LINK Mobility AS in 2015.

Rapid Growth through Acquisitions

2015: LINK continues acquisitions across the Nordics

• Fivestarday AB (Sweden)
• Cool Group ApS (Denmark)

2016: LINK expands beyond the Nordics

• Responsfabrikken with fully owned subsidiaries Wireless Factory ApS (Denmark)
• Linus (Norway)
• Labyrintti group companies, consisting of Labyrintti Media Oy and Labyrintti International Oy (Finland)
• Whatever Mobile, comprising of Whatever Mobile GmbH, GfMB Gesellschaft für Mobiles Bezahlen mbH and Whatever SIM GmbH (Germany)
• Globalmouth (Sweden)

2017: Growth across Europe

• LINK acquired Netmessage (France)
• SMSAPI/Comvision (Poland)
• VoiceCom (Bulgaria)
• Global Messaging Solutions (Spain)
• Vianett AS (Norway)
• Didimo (Spain)

2018: Further acquisitions throughout Europe and delisting

• LINK acquired SMS.it (Italy)
• Totalconnect/Archynet (Italy)
• Simple SMS (Austria)
• Horisen Messaging (Switzerland)
• LINK was acquired by Abry Partners and delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange.
• LINK acquired SeeMe/Dream Interactive (Hungary)
• Hay Systems (UK) and Multiwizz (France)

2019: Large acquisitions, particularly in France

• LINK acquired Spot-Hit/Evawin and Inwave (France)
• TeraComm Group (Bulgaria)
• Netsize (France)

Relisting to Present Acquisition History

2020: LINK was relisted on the Oslo Stock Exchange in October with Abry Partners remaining a major shareholder.

In November, LINK announced its largest acquisition to date with WebSMS, a market leader in Austria with business in Germany and Switzerland as well.

2021: In February, LINK announced the acquisition of Dutch CPaaS enabler Tismi, a provider of telecommunication services and products with a licensed operator status in 8 European countries.

In mid-April, LINK acquired Denmark’s MarketingPlatform, which has an omnichannel marketing platform with an integrated customer data platform (CDP) giving customers a unified profile view.

In late April, LINK acquired approximately 81% of AMM S.p.A listed on the AIM list of the Italian Stock Exchange, making LINK the leading CPaaS provider in Italy. AMM operates within mobile marketing and web advertising.

In May, LINK signed an exclusive term sheet to acquire Soprano Design, a global CPaaS player headquartered in Australia. This means LINK has truly become global with a footprint in Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and the US.

What does CPaaS mean? A quick reminder here.

We have a long acquisition history, and we’re excited for what our future holds. Continue to follow us on our journey!

LINK Mobility Acquisitions